Page 12 of Mountain Captive

“It isn’t to happen right away,” Helen said. “There will be years for her to prepare. But when she has reached maturity, there will be a grand wedding.”

Her father moved in to stand beside them. He patted Elita’s shoulder and smiled when she looked up at him. “This is indeed an honor,” he said. “Thank the Exalted for us.”

“But the Exalted is already married,” Elita said. She had seen his wife, Miracle, seated beside him at the ceremonies. And they had children—four of them, all blond like Miracle.

“Yes.” Helen turned to Elita, no longer smiling. “The Exalted has chosen you as his second wife.”

Her mother’s fingers were digging into Elita’s shoulders now. “That is indeed a great honor,” she said carefully. “But Elita is so young. Surely there are other, more suitable women...”

“He has chosen Elita,” Jedediah said, his voice overly loud in the small space. Harsh. “How dare you question his choice.”

“I meant no disrespect,” Mom said, and bowed her head. But Elita could feel her trembling.

“Of course she doesn’t,” her father said. “And it’s good that Elita has been chosen now. She will have years to learn all she will need to know for such an honored position.”

“Of course,” Helen said. She smiled at Elita once more. “We have much to do to prepare you for your future role.”

“What does she need to do?” Mom asked.

“I will instruct her myself,” Helen said. “I will teach her all she needs to know to be a fitting bride for our Exalted leader.” She took a step back. “I’m sure you are both in awe. I will leave you to ponder your good fortune.”

She and Sarai turned and left, but Jedediah stayed behind. He fixed them with a hard gaze. “Don’t think you’re going to get out of this,” he said. “Remember what happened to Elim.”

As soon as the door closed behind him, Elita’s mother sank to her knees. Elita sat beside her. “Mom, what’s wrong?” she asked.

Her mother pulled her close and stroked her hair. “I won’t let anyone hurt you,” she whispered.

“They’re not going to hurt her,” her father said. “This is a great honor.”

“She’s a child,” her mother said, her expression fierce. “And if she does decide to marry one day, she should be free to make her own choice. The idea of her being married off to some old man who already has one wife—it’s positively medieval.”

“The Old Testament kings all had many wives,” her father said.

“The Exalted is not an Old Testament king. And I can’t believe you’re going along with this.”

Her father’s expression sagged, and he looked away. “I don’t see that we have any choice,” he said. “No one goes against the Exalted’s decrees.”

“When we came here, it was because the Vine offered a better way of life—one full of cooperation and peace and contributing positive things to the world. No one ever said anything about marrying off children.”

“She’s not going to marry him right away,” her father said. “The wedding will be years away, and anything could happen before then.”

“We could leave,” her mother said.

“We can’t leave.” He leaned closer and lowered his voice, as if Elita wasn’t sitting right there between them. “You heard what Jedediah said—about Elim.”

“Who’s Elim?” Elita asked.

“Just...someone who used to belong to the Vine,” her mother said.

“What happened to him?” Elita asked.

“He went away,” her father said. “But we aren’t going anywhere.” He sounded almost angry. Elita leaned against her mom, trying to make herself smaller.

“We’re going to take care of Elita,” her mother said. “We’re going to do whatever it takes to look after her.” Her mother sounded angry, too, and Elita felt like crying. Whatever was going on was Jedediah’s fault. And maybe the Exalted’s fault too. Though she would never say that out loud. Everyone—even kids like her—knew that you didn’t say anything bad about the Exalted. She didn’t know what would happen to her if she did, but she was pretty sure it would be terrible.

“MYPARENTSJOINEDthe Vine when I was five.” Chris was calmer now, seated next to Rand in an interview room at the sheriff’s department, several hours after the confrontation in the woods. Travis and Gage Walker sat across from them—looking as relaxed as two uniformed lawmen could, she thought. She ran a hand through her bright blue hair. “They met some members at the ice-cream shop they owned in town and liked what they had to say and ended up selling everything and moving into a mobile home on some land the Vine owned. Or maybe the group was squatting on the land. I don’t really know. Anyway, things were fine until the year I turned nine.”

When she didn’t continue, Travis prodded her. “What happened when you were nine?”

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